1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the preparation of alkyl sulfonates by the addition of bisulfite to olefin. The product of the reaction has surface active properties and can be used for cleansing various materials; e.g., fabrics, skin and hard surfaces such as dishes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The reaction of olefins with bisulfite ions to produce sulfonic acid salts has been known for a long time; however, the prior art is contradictory and appears to teach that it is necessary to use complicated procedures that are time consuming and inconvenient.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,504,411 it was disclosed that organic peroxides and peresters such as tertiary butyl perbenzoate are preferred intitiators. Typical Example III of U.S. Pat. No. 2,504,411 described a process apparently similar to that of Example I of U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,186 which the latter indicates to be virtually inoperative. As a result, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,186 provides a process which requires progressive addition of the bisulfite at such a rate as to maintain an amount of unreacted bisulfite ion within the range of 0.05 to 0.25 mol per mol of olefin originally introduced. It is evident that this requires initiating the reaction with only a small percentage of the necessary bisulfite and also requires the subsequent progressive addition of most of the bisulfite needed for the reation. The process was described in the patent as requiring visual observation or periodic analysis of the reaction mixture to determine bisulfite content to indicate when to add the bisulfite in the course of the reaction. Since such observation and analysis as well as the control operations are more or less subjective or time consuming, it would be desired to have a workable process which does not require one to start a run with a small initial amount of bisulfite and then have to add most of the bisulfite during the course of the reaction based on the maintenance of an analytically determined bisulfite concentration. On the other hand, some of the prior art discloses that the process is of low conversion, such as 75 percent or less and requires a large excess of bisulfite. Since excess bisulfite remains as a contaminant of the product, it is desired to provide a process that does not require excess bisulfite.